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OF KENTUCKY, 



Delivered June 27, 1840, on the occasion of a Public Dinner, given in compliment, 
to kirn, at Taylor sville, in his native County of Hanover, in the State of Virgima. 

The sentiment in compliment to Mr. Clat, was received with long continued applause— 
That gentleman rose and addressed the company substantiaUy as follows: 

I think, friends and fellow-citizens, that, availing myself of the privilege of "^7 ^-^^'g ^^^f 
in the Dublic councils, just adverted to, the resolution, which I have adopted, is not unreasona- 
Sp of Wn^to younger men, generally, the performance of the duty and the erjnyment of 
ble, ot 'eavmg 10 younger , ^ : primary assemblies. After the event which oc 

the pleasure °^ ^f ^^^^^^^'J^^^^jf/l^J^/pe^ I believe it due to myself, to the V/h-g cause, 

rn?l' S^rX^^— ^ -^h perfect truth a^d sincerity and without 

anv reserve, my Led determination heartily to support the nommation of Wilham Henj 
H JrrTson Iher^made To put down all misrepresentation, I have, on suitable occasions, re- 
JilteTthis annrck ion : and now declare my solemn conviction that the purity 8nd secun*^ 
Sf'our free instSns and the prosperity of tL country imperatively demand the election of- 
that Pih7pn to the office of Chief Magistrate of the United btates. 

ButSoccasronorms a^ exception from the rule which I have prescribed to myself I 
h^vP come here o the county of my nativity, in the spirit of a pilgrim, to meet, pernaps for the 

uSed uf nto e AtenJe And we dwell with delightful associations on the recol ert,o„ of 

Ae strea^= i" wWA dnrinjonr boyish days, we bathed, the ?""g'"«,f ^^J^.^se'^^^^^^ 
■ . a^Uo iht. hilU and the vallevs where we sported, and the fnends who sharea inese eii 
pmey «'Mfv*f, °%'^"^'';l, „7n„ of these tods if mine have gone whither we must all 
SSri^^dtL ptee;Keterrof'^^l°e small remnant left behimi attlsts both ou^^ 

SlXanf-S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

-i^\=sHriniTid':^K« 

*'^hV't\he XuSrsIfrtS''™^hy'«f the tools of the mechanic laid aside, and aU 
Jf Ju'sMng |Sin"he Peopl? 1 What occasions those vast and mmsua^^semb- 
SSs which we lehold in every State, and in almost every neighborhood ! Why »<»«»" 
So^ of the People, at acfimon centre from all rteexu-emuieso^^^^^^^ 



-hich we observe, of a great nation agitated upon its whole surface, and at its lowest dep; 
ike the ocean when convulsed by some terrible storm 1 There must be a cause, and y\o 
ordinary cause. 

It has been truly said, in the most memorable document that ever issued from the pen of 
man, that "all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils 
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." 
The recent history of our People furnishes confirmation of that truth. They are active, en- 
terprising, and intelligent ; but are not prone to make groundless complaints against public 
servants. If we now every where behold them in motion, it is because they feel that the grie- 
vances under which they are writhing can be no longer tolerated. They feel the absolute 
necessity of a change, that no change can render their condition worse, and that any change 
must better it. This is the judgment to which they have come ; this is the brief and com- 
pendious logic which we daily hear. Tiiey know that, in all the dispensations of Providence, 
they have reason to be thankful and grateful; and if they had not, they would be borne with 
fortitude and resignation. But there is a pervading conviction and persuasion, that, in the ad- 
mmistration of Government, there has been something wrong, radically wrong, and that the 
vesse: of State has been in the hands of selfish, faithless, and unskillful pilots, who have con- 
ducted it amidst the breakers. 

In my deliberate opinion, the present distressed and distracted state of tlie country may be 
traced to the smgle cause of the action, the encroachments, and the usurpations of the Execu- 
tive branch ot the Government. I have not time here to exiiibit and to dwell upon ail the in- 
stances of these, as they have occurred in succession, during the last twelve years. They 
Jiave been again and again exposed on other more fit occasions. But I have thought this a 
proper opportunity to point out the enormity of the pretensions, principles, and practices of that 
Department as they have been, from time to time, disclosed, in these late years, and to show 
the rapid progress which has been made in the fulfilment of the remarkable language of our il- 
lustrious countryman, Patrick Henry, that the Federal Executive had an awful squinting to- 
ward monarchy. Here, m the county of his birth, surrounded by sons, some of whose sires 
with him were the first to raise their arms in defence of American liberty against a foreign 
monarch, is an appropriate place to expose the impending danger of creating a domestic mon- 
arch. And may I not, without presumption, mdulge the hope that the warning voice of ano- 
ther, although far humbler son of Hanover, may not pass unheeded ? 

The late President of the United States advanced certain new and alarming pretensions for 
the Executive Department of the Government, the effect of which, if established and recoo-ni- 
sed by the People, must inevitably convert it into a monarchy. The first of these, and it was 
a favorite principle with him, was, that the Executive Department should be regarded as a unit. 
By this principle of unity, he meant and intended that all the Executive officers of the Govern- 
ment should be bound to obey the commands and execute the orders of the President of the 
UnUed States, and that they should be amenable to him, and he be responsible for them. Prior 
to his administration, it had been considered that they were bound to observe and obey the 
Constitution and laws, subject only to the general superintendance of the President, and res- 
ponsible, by impeachment, to the tribunals of justice for injuries inflicted on private citizens. 

But the annunciation of this new and extraordinary principle was not of itself sufficient for 
the purposes of President Jackson ; it was essential that the subjection to his will, which was 
Its object, should be secured by some adequate sanction. That he sought to efl^ect by the 
extension of another principle, that of dismission fi-om office, beyond all precedent, and in cases 
and under circumstances which would have furnished just grounds for his impeachment, ac- 
cording to the solemn opinion of Mr. Madison and other members of the first Congress under 
the present Constitution. 

Now, if the whole official corps, subordinate to the President of the United States, are made 
to know and to feel that they hold their respective offices by the tenure of conformity and obe- 
dience to his will, it is manifest that they must look to that will, and not to the Constitution and 
Laws, as the guide of their official conduct. The weakness of human nature, the love and 
emoluments of office, perhaps the bread necessary to the support of their famihes, would make 
this result absolutely certain. 

The developement of this new character to the power of dismission would have fallen short 
of the aims m view, without the exercise of it were held to be a prerogative, for which the Pre- 
sident was to be wholly irresponsible. If he were compelled to expose the grounds and rea- 
sons upon which he acted, in dismissals from office, the apprehension of public censure would 
t^per the arbitrary nature of the power, and throw some protection around the subordinate 
officer. Hence the new and monstrous pretension has been advanced, that although the 



-^.concurrence of the Senate is necessary by the Constitution to the confirmation of an ap- 
pointment, the President may subsequently dismiss the person appointed, not only without 
, commumcatmg the grounds on which he has acted to the Senate, but without any such 
' ^^^^"""''ation to the People themselves, for whose benefit all offices are created ! And so 
bold and daring has the Executive branch of the Government become, that one of the Cabi- 
net Mmisters, himself a subordinate officer, has contemptuously refused to members of the 
House of Representatives to disclose the grounds on which he has undertaken to dismiss from 
office persons acting as deputy postmasters in this Department ! 

As to the gratuitous assumption by President Jackson, of responsibility for all the subordi- 
nate Executive officers, it is the merest mockery that was ever put forth. They M'ill escape 
punishment by pleading his orders, and he by alleging the hardship of being punished, not for 
• S!^ onn nnA^' m"*^- ^""^ ^ii'"''"^- '^^ ^^''^ ^ practical exposition of this principle in the case of 
tne ^UU.UUU militia. The Secretary of War comes out to screen the President, by testify- 
ing that he never saw what he strongly recommended; and the President reciprocates that 
tavor by retaining tlie Secretary in place, notwithstandinar he has proposed a plan for organ- 
izing tiie mihtia, which is acknowledged to be uuconslitutional. If the President is not to be 
held responsible for a Cabinet Minister, in daily intercourse with him, how is he to be render- 
ed so tor a receiver in Wisconsin or Iowa 1 To concentrate all responsibility in the Presi- 
dent, is to annihilate all responsibility. For who ever expects to see the day arrive when a 
Fresideiit of tlie United States will be impeached; or, if impeached, when he cannot com- 
mand more than one third of the Senate to defeat the impeachment "! 

But to construct the scheme of practical desj)otism, whilst all the forms of free o-overnment 
remained, it was necessary to take one further step. By the Constitution, the President is 
enjoined to take care that the laws be executed. This injunction was merely intended to 
impose on him the duty of a general superintendence ; to see that offices were filled, officers 
at their respective posts in the discharge of their official fucntions, and all obstructions to the 
enforcement of the laws removed, and, when necessary for that purpose, to call out the mili- 
tia. Ao one ever imagined, prior to the administration of President Jackson, that a Presi- 
dent ot the United States was to occupy himself with supervising and attending to the execu- 
tion ot ail the minute details of every one of the hosts of offices in the United States. 

Under the constitutional injunction just mentioned, the late President put forth that most 
extraordmary pretension, that the Constitution and laws of the United States were to be exe- 
cuted as he understood them; and this pretension was attempted to be sustained by an aro^u, 
meiit e(iua|]y extraordinary, that the President, being a sworn officer, must carry them into 
effect according to his sen^e of tiieir meauiiig. The Constitution and laws were to be exe- 
cuted not according to their import as handed down to us by our ancestors, as interpreted by 
cotemporaneous expositions, as expounded by concurrent judicial decisions, as fixed by an uii- 
interrupted course of Congressional legislation, but in that sense which a President of the 
United fetates happened to understand them ! 

To complete this Executive usurpation, one further object remained. By the Constitution 
the command of the Army and Navy is conferred on the President. If he could unite the 
purse to the sword, nothing would be left to gratify the insatiable thirst for power. In 1833 
the 1 resident seized the Treasury of the United States, and from that day to this it has con- 
^nued under his control. The seizure was effected by the removal of one Secretary of the 
Ireasury, understood to be opposed to the measure, and by ihe dismissal of anothei-, who re- 
tused to violate the law of the land upon the orders of the President. 

It is, indeed, said that not a dollar in the Treasury can, without a previous appropriation, be 
touched by law, nor drawn out of the Treasury without the concurrence and sio-nature of the 
Secretary, the Treasurer, the Register and the Comj^troUer. But are not all these pretend- 
ed securities idle and unavailing forms? We have seen that, by the operation* of the ir- 
responsible power of dismission, all these officers are reduced to mere automata, absolutely 
subjected to the will of the President. What resistance would any of them make, with t)ie 
penalty of dismission suspended over their heads, to any orders of the President to pour out 
the treasure of the United States, whether an act of appropriation existed or nof Do not 
mock us with the vain assurance of the honor and probity of a President, n,.r remind us of the 
confidence we ought to repose m his imagined virtues. The pervading principle of our sys- 
tem of government— of all free government-is not merely the possibility, but the absolute 
certainty of infidelity and treachery, with even the highest functionary of the State ; and hence 
all the restrictions, securieties and guarantees which tha wisdom of our ancestors or the sad ex- 
perience of history had inculcated have been devised ahd thrown around the Chief Maoistrate 
Here, friends and feUow-citi^pns, let us pause and contemplate the stupendous structure of 



Executive machinery and despotism which has been reared in our young Republic. The 
Executive branch of the Government is a unit ; throughout all its arteries and veins their is 
to be but one heart, one head, one will. The number of the subordinate Executive officers 
and dependents in the United States has been estimated, in an official report, founded on pub- 
lic documents, made by a Senator from South Carohna, (Mr. Calhoun,) at one hundred 
thousand. Whatever it may be, all of them, wherever they are situated, are bound implicitly 
to obey the orders of the President. And absolute obedience to his will is secured and en- 
forced by the power of dismissing them at his pleasure, from their respective places. To 
make this terrible power of dismission more certain and efficacious, its exercise is covered up 
in mysterious secrecy, without exposure, without tJie smallest responsibility. The Consti- 
tution and laws of the United States are to be executed in tiie sense in which the President 
understands them, although that sense may be at variance with the understanding of every 
other man in the United States. It follows, as a necessary consequence from the principle 
deduced by the President from the constitutional injunction as to the execution of the laws, 
that, if an act of Congress be passed, in his opinion, contrary to the Constitution, or if a de- 
cision be pronounced by the courts, in his opinion, contrary to the Constitution or the laws, 
that act, or that decision, the President is not obliged to enforce, and he could not cause it to 
be enforced without a violation, as is pretended, of his official oath. Candor requires the ad- 
misssion that the principle has not yet been pushed in practice in these cases; but it mani- 
festly comprehends them ; and who doubts that, if the spirit of usurpation is not arrested and 
rebuked, they will be finally reached ? The march of power is ever onward. As times and 
seasons admonish, it openly and boldly, in broad day, makes its progress ; or, if alarm be ex- 
cited by the enormity of its pretensions, it silently and secretly, in the dark of the night, steals 
its devious way. It now storms and mounts the ramparts of the fortress of liberty; it now 
saps and undermines its foundations. Finally, the command of the army and navy being al- 
ready in the President, and having acquired a perfect control over the Treasury of the Uni- 
ted States, he has consummated that frightful union of purse and sword, so long, so much, so 
earnestly deprecated by all true lovers of civil liberty. And our present Chief Magistrate 
stands solemnly and voluntarily pledged, in the face of the whole world, to follow in the foot- 
steps and carry out the measures and the principles of his illustrious predecessor ! 

The sum of the whole is, that there is but one power, one control, one will in the State. 
All is concentrated in the President. He directs, orders, commands the whole machinery of 
the State. Through the official agencies, scattered throughout the land, and absolutely sub- 
jected to his will, he executes, according to his pleasure or caprice, the whole power of the 
Commonwealth, which has been absorbed and engrossed by him. And one soul will predom- 
inate in, and animate the whole of, this vast community. If this be not practical despotism, 
I am incapable of conceiving or defining it. Names are nothing. The existence or non- 
existence of arbitrary government does not depend upon the title or denomination bestowed 
on the chief of the State, but upon the quantum of power which he possesses and wields. 
Autocrat, sultan, emperor, dictator, king, doge, president, are all mere names, in which the 
power respectively possessed by them is not to be found, but is to be looked for in the Consti- 
tution, or the established usages and practices of the several States which they govern and 
control. If the Autocrat of Russia were called President of all the Russias, the actual pow- 
er remaining unchanged, his authority, under his new denomination, would continue undimi- 
nished; and if the President of the United States vvere to receive the title of Autocrat of the 
United States, the amount of his authority would not be increased, without an alteration of 
the Constitution. 

General Jackson was a bold and fearless reaper, carrying a wide row, but he did not gather 
the whole harvest ; he left some gleanings to his faithful successor, and he seems resolved to 
sweep clean the field of power. The duty of inculcating on the official corps the active ex- 
ertion of their personal and official influence was left by him to be enforced by Mr. Van Bu- 
ren, in all popular elections. It was not sufficient that the official jorps was bound implicitly 
to obey the will of the President. It was not sufficient that this obedience was coerced by the 
tremendous power of dismission. It soon became apparent that this corps might be benefi- 
cially employed to promote, in other matters than the business of their offices, the views and 
interests of the President and his party. They are far more efficient than any standing army 
of equal numbers. A standing army would be separated, and stand out from the People ; 
would be an object of jealousy and suspicion; and being always in corps or in detachments, 
could exert no influence on popular elections. But the official corps is dispersed throughout 
the country, in every town, village, and city, mLxing with the People, attending their meet- 
ings and ponventions, becoming chairmen and niembers of committees, and urging and stimu- 



ktog prbsans to active a^a vl^orotis esertion. Acting in concert, anJ throu^Wt tJie- 
whcie Lnion, obeying orders issued from the centre, their influence aided bvlv^rLk-! 

fovT° """'"^tu^ ^""'^ procedure, ^nd to restrain the subordinates of the Executive fi-om all m^pr 

fntlTdlnVTl'^^^^^^^ Sfir; V'^'-- ^^"^^^"^^"'> "°^ P-itTntZ'cfd f i 

Federal Xce;s from infPrnJ^HT Jferson's opniion, who issued a circular to restrain 

reaerai omceis Horn intermeddling in popular elections. He had before him thp -Rriti^h <.v 

u^,^';':^''''^"^f H ^'"^'^' P''^^'^'^" ^"'^ P^"^'""^'-^ ^^'«^^ "«t only forb dde^to int! ere but 

mencedifaCouSfarr'.f'^'''^^^ '^'"^ '"^^ Executive instruments has cor^- 

menced in a Loui t Martial assemljled at Baltimore. Two officers of the Armv of the TJnitpH 
States have been there put upon their solemn trial, on the charge of preiEnff the Demo 
crauc party by making purchases for the supply of the Army from the meTbers of the WhiV 

C be Lr ^sSSVhaMr" """'"l ''^^^^ r^ prejudiced\TttTpt"| 
Trters o ^e \dmt t a^^^^^ "^"'P"* 't'" '^'^^'^ ^^^^ been made from the sup- 

instead of ti^e frieTds oflrA^,V '^^^''^''^^ ^^^^^^-' .^hat to purchase at all from the opponents, 
^ired thlt tLTff" n/ 1 ^,'^™»'^^'^at'«»' ^^'^^ an injury to the Democratic party, which re- 
quired that the offenders should be put upon their trial before a Court Martial • And this trial 

Eut the Army and Navy are too small, and in composition are too patriotic to subserve all 
the purposes of this Administration. Hence the recent proposition of the SecrSarv 5 War 

re:;fa T.^ZXt of ^00 OoT''^"*' """''' ^°^^^ "^ ^ "^^ organ izatlon^nKitl^to 
creaie a standing torce of 200,000 men, an amount wh ch no conceivable forei^^n pvio-pnfv 
can ever make necessary. It is not my purpose now to enter uporan 7xaminatk,n"^f that 
meM'^Itb^^"'^' ^'"^'ri Pl-"«f the/Executive DepartmL? of the rSTGovem^^ 
r of t bee " mLrp\l^lL'" ? '' general indignation ^and nowhere has the disapjroia- 
wealth emphatically expressed than in this ancient and venerable Common- 

hv'^ll r°"'?°"' "^IT""^ ""^^ ^^ described in a few words. It proposes to create the force 
thpmTfn f °''" j^^^'^" '"^ ^^^'^"'^ Line, expunging the boundaries of States me W 
them up into a confluent mass, to be subsequently cu! up into ten military parfs ahenaTes hf 

thfon ronSirro';::^,Tffi"'''"' ^'"^^r 'vh ^j- -^'--^y -^^ cLCid trsy" ;'! 

S^t amhonrprhi" *'•' f'":'^'^ puts it under the command of the 

anTut^S;tsittobP.i^^p1 r ""^^ ''Tf' in palpable violation of the Constitution. 

^:t^ti^^^^S.:SZS:;r ^»^^'^^^-^P^--' at his pleasure, and on occal 

Indefensible as this project is, fellovv-citizens, do not be deceived bysupDosina- that it ba^ 

or Tre'eir it ofTi ^ pts-d'' 7 ■' T't °' ^''°^^ ''^'^ ^'^ "-' '" P^-X't Inllec o'n 
he had nroDo^pT pn5 .11 f "^- ™P''^f .^^le sanction of the People to all the measures which 
even? Te W " en t .^^ ?'"'°"f' ''^"^^ }' ^ad expressed, on public affairs, prior to that 
rp pWfp7:n w u principle applied on various occasions. Let Mr. Van Buren be 

re-elected m November next, and it will be claimed that the People have therebv aoDroved 
of this plan of the Secretary of War. All entertain the opmion, that it Is [mportLt ^S trSn 



the militia, and render it effective ; and it will be insisted, in the contingency mentioned, that 
the People have demonstrated that they approve of that specific plan. There is more reason 
to apprehend such a consequence from the fact, that a committee of the Senate, to which 
this subject was referred, instead of denouncing the scheme as unconstitutional and danger- 
ous to liberty, presented a labored apology to be printed for circulation among the People. I 
take pleasure in testifying, that one Administration Senator had tlie manly independence to 
, denounce, in his place, the project as unconstitutional. That Senator was from your own 
State. 

I have thup, fellow-citizens, exhibited to you, a true and faithful picture of Executive 
power, as it has been enlarged and expanded within the last few years, and as it has been 
proposed furtlier to extend it. It overshadows every other branch of the Government. The 
source of legislative power is no longer to be found in the Capitol, but in the palace of the 
President. In assuming to be a part of the legislative power, as the President recently did, 
contrary to the Constitution, he would have been nearer the actual fact, if he had alleged that 
he was the sole legislative power of the Union. How is it possible for public libcrly to be 
preserved, and the constitutional distributions of power, among tiie Departments of Govern- 
ment to be maintained, unless the Executive career be checked and restrained 1 

It may be urged, that two securities exist: first, that tlie Presidenti;il terra is of short dura- 
tion; and, secondly, the elective franchise. But it lias been already shown, that whether a 
depository of power be arbitrary or compatible with liberty does not depend upon the dura- 
tion of the official term, but upon the amount of power invested. The Dictatorship in Rcjme 
was an otRce of brief existence, generally shorter than the Pnesidential term. Whether the 
elective franchise be an adequate remedy or not, is a problem to be solved next November. 
I hope and believe it yet is. But if Mr. Van Buren sljould be re-elected, tlie power already 
acquired by the Executive be retained, and that which is in progress be added to that depart- 
ment, it is my deliberate judgment that there will be no hope remaining fur the continuance 
of the liberties of the country. 

And yet the partisans of this tremendous Executive power arrogate to themselves the name 
of Democrats, and bestow upon us, who are opposed to it, the denomination of Federalists! 
In the Senate of the United States, there are five gentlemen, who were members of tlie Fed- 
eral party, and four of them have been suddenly transformed into Democrats, and are now 
warm supporters of this administration, whilst I, who had exerted the utmost of my humble 
abilities to arouse the nation to a vindication of its insulted honor and its violated rights, and 
to the vigorous prosecution of the war against Great Britain, to which they were violently 
opposed, find myselti by a sort of magical influence, converted into a Federalist ! The only 
American citizen that I ever met with, who was an avowed monarchist, was a supporter of 
the administration of General Jackson ; and he acknowledged to me, that his motive was to 
bring about the system of monarchy, which his judgment preferred. 

There were otiier points of difference between the Federalists and the Democratic or rather 
Republican party of 1798, but the great, leading, prominent discrimination between them re- 
lated to the constitution of the Executive Department of the government. The Federalists 
believed that, in its structure, it was too weak, and was in danger of being crushed by the pre- 
ponderating weight of the legislative branch. Hence they rallied around the Executive, and 
sought to give to it strength and energy. A strong Government, an energetic Executive 
was, among tnem, the common language and the great object of that day. The Republicans, 
on the contrary, believe, that the real danger lay on the side of the Executive; that having a 
continuous and uninterrupted existence, it was always on the alert ready to defend the power 
it had and prompt in acquiring more ; and that the experience of history demonstrated that it 
was the encroaching and usurping department. They, therefore, rallied around the People 
and tlie Legislature. 

What are the positions of the two great parties of the present day? Modern democracy 
has reduced the federal theory of a strong and energetic Executive to practical operation. It 
has turned from the People, the natural ally of genuine democracy, to the Executive, and, in- 
stead of vigdance, jealousy, and distrust, has given to that department all its confidence, and 
made to it a virtual surrender of all the powers of government. The recognized maxim of 
royal infallibility is transplanted from the British Monarchy into modern American Democracy, 
and the President can do no wrong ! This new school adipts, modifies, changes, renounces, 
renews opinions at the pleasure of the Executive. Is the Bank of the United States a useful 
and valuable institution .' Yes, unanimously pronounces the Democratic Legislature of Penn- 
sylvania. The President vetoes it as a pernicious and dangerous establishment. The Dem- 
ocratic Legislature approves, promptly approves the act. The democratic majority of the 



House of Representatives of the United States declare the deposites of the pubhc money in 
the Bank of the United States to be safe. The President says they are unsafe, and removes 
them. The Democracy say they are unsafe, approves the removal The President says 
that a scheme of Sub-Treasury is revolutionary and disorganizing. The Democracy say it 
is revolutionary and disorganizing. The President says it is wise and salutary. The Demo- 
cracy say it is wise and salutarv. . 

Tlie Whigs of IS40, stand where the Pienublicans of 179S stood, and where the Whif?f 
of the Revokition were, battlino; for Liberty, for the People, for free institutions, agams 
power, against corruption, against Executive encroachments, against monarchy. 

We are reproached with struggHng for offices and their emoluments. If we acted on th< 
avowed and acknowledged principle of our opponents, ' that the spoils belong to the victor, 
we should indeed be unworthy of the support, of the people. No! lellow-citizens ; higher 
nobler, more patriotic motives actuate the Whig party. Their object is the restoration o 
the Constitution, the preservation of liberty, tlie rescue of the country. If they were govern 
ed by tlie sordid and selfish motives acted" upon by their opponents, and unjustly imputed h 
them, to ac(iuire office emolument, they have only to change tlieir names, and enter the pre 
sidentinl |)alace. The gale is always wide open," and the path is no narrow one wliicli leads 
through It. The last comer, too, ot'ien fares best. 

On"a re-survev ofthe lew past vears, we behold enouirh to sicken and sadden the heart 
of all true patrio"ts. Executive eii"croachment has quickly followed executive encroachmentj 
persons Jionored by public coudiience, and from whom nothinir but grateful and parentr 
measures should have flowed, have indicted stunning blow afier blow in such rapid succes. 
sion, that, belbre the people could recover from thereeling ellecis of one, another has fal 
len heavily upon them. Had either of the various instances of Executive misrule stood oi< 
separate and alone, so that its enormity might have been seen, and dwelt upon with compc 
sure, the condemnation of llie Executive would have Ions since been pronounced ; but it ha 
hitherto found satity and impunity in the bewildering eflecls ol'lhe multitude of its misdeed! 
The nation has been in the condi"tion of a man, who having gone to bed alter his barn ha 
been consumed by fire, is aroused in the morning to witness his dwellinfr-house wrapt i 
flames. So bold 'and presumptuous had the executive become, that, penetrating in Us ir 
fluence the hall of a co-ordinate branch ofthe government, by means of a submissive or ir 
structed majority ofthe Senate, it has caused a record of the country to be eflaced and e3( 
punffed, the inviolability of which was guaranteed by a solemn injunction of tiie Constiti 
tion ! And that memo'rable and scandalous scene was enacted only because the otlensiv 
record contained an expression of disapprobation of an executive proceeding. 

If this state of things were to remain— if the projTress of executive usurpation were 1 
continue unchecked, hopeless despair would seize the public mind, or the people would r 
goaded to acts of opeu and violent resistance. But, thank God, the power of the Presuien 
fearful and rapid as its strides have been, is not yet too great for the power of tlie elecln 
fiancbise; and a bright and o-lorious prospect, in the election of William Henry Harri 
SON, has opened upon the country. The necessity of a change of rulers has ileeply pern 
trated the hearts ofthe people ; and we every where behold cheerlns manifestations ot th;j 
happy event. The (act of his election a!one,\vilhout reference to the measures o( his adm 
nistration, will powerfully contribute to the security and happiness ofthe people. It w 
brino; assurance ofthe cessation of that long series of disastrous experiments which have s 
greatly afflicted the people. Confidence will Immediately revive, credit be restored, actn 
business will return, prices of products will rise ; and the people will fee! and know iha 
instead of their servants belnnn occupied In devisini? measures tor their rum and destructio 
tkev will be assiduously employed in promotinur-tfieir welfare and prosperity. 

But grave and serious measures, will, unquestionably, early and anxiously command tl 
earnest attention ofthe new administration. I have no authority to announce, and do n 
pretend to announce, the purposes of the new President. I have no knowledge of the 
other than that which is accessible to every citizen. In what I shall say as the course ot 
new administration, therefore, I mean to express my own sentiments, lo speak for myse 
without compromittlncr any other person. Upon such an Interesting occasion as this is, 
the midst ofthe companions of my youth, or their descendants, I have felt that It is due 
• them and to myself, explicitly to declare my sentiments, without reserve, and to show lb 
I have been, and, as I sincerely believe, the friends with whom I have acted, have been ai 
mated by the disinterested desire to advance the best interests ofthe country, and to pi 
serve its free institutions. 



8 

The first, and, in my opinion, the most important object, which should engage the serious 
attention of a new administration, is that ofcircumscribinfl: the executive power, and throw- 
ing around it such linutations and safeguards as will render it no longer dangerous to the 
public liberties. 

Whatever is the work of man, necessarily partakes of his imperfections; and it was not 
:o be expected that, with all the knowledge, wisdom, and virtues of the framers of our Con- 
stitution, they could have sent l()rlh a government, so free from all defects, and so full of 
guarantees, that it should not, in the conflict of embittered parties, and of excited passion?, 
)e perverted and misinterpreted. Misconceptions, or erroneous constructions of tlie povyers 
jranted in the constitution, would probably have occurred after the lapse of many years, in 
easons of entire calm, with a regular and temperate adn)inistration of the government ; but 
lurini; the last twelve years, the machine, driven by a reckless charioteer, with friirtitful im- 
)etuosiiy, has been greatly jarred and jolted, and it needs careful examination, and a tho- 
ou/jh repair. 

With the view, tlierefiire, to the fundamental character of the government itself, and es- 
lecially of the executive branch, it seems to me that, either by amendments ot'the consti- 
ution when they are necessary, or by remedial legislation, when the object liills within tiie 
cope of the powers of Congress, there should be, 

1st. A_ provision to render a person Ineligible to the office of President of the United 
'tates, after a service of one term. 

Much observation and deliberate reflection have satisfied me, that too much of the time, 
ie thoughts, and the exertions of the incumbent, are occupied during the first term in sf- 
iiring tiis re-election. The public business, consequently suflers; and measures are pro- 
osed or executed with less re<Tard to the general prosperity than to their influence upon the 
pproachincr election. If the limitation to one term existed, the President would be exclu- 
vely devoted to the discharti^e of his public duties; and he would endeavor to signalize his 
jminisi ration by the beneficence and wisdom of its measures. 

'id. That the veto power should be more precisely defined, and be subjected to farther 
mitations and qualifications. Although a lar^e, perhaps the largest proportion of all the 
Us of congress, passed at the short session of congress, since the commencement of the go- 
jrnment, were passed within the three last days of the session, and when of course the 
resident for the time beinsr had not the ten days for consideration allowed by the constitu- 
m — President Jackson first availing himself of that allowance, has failed to return impor- 
nt bills. When not returned by the President within ten days, it is questionable whetlier 
ey are laws or not. It is very certain that the next congress cannot act upon them by 
'cidinir whether or not they shall become laws, the President's objections notwithstanding. 
II this ought to be provided for. 

At present, a bill returned by the President, can only become a law by the concurrence of 
^o-ihirds of the members of each house. I think if congress passed a bill after discussion 
id consideration, and after weighing the objections of the President, still believe it ought 
pass, it should become a law, provided a majority o[ all the members of each house con- 
r in its passage. If the weight of his arcpument, and the weight of his influence cannot 
evail on a majority, against their previous convictions, in my opinion the bill ought not be 
rested. Such is the provision of the Constitutions of several of the States, and that of 
?ntucky among them. 

8d. Tfiat the power of dismission from office, sho'illd be restricted, and the exercise of it 
rendered responsible. 

The constiiKtional concurrence of the Senate is necessary to the confirmation of all im- 
rtant appointmelits ; but without consultinir the Senate, without any other motive than 
{entment or caprice, the President may dismiss, at his sole pleasure, an officer created by 
i joint action of himself and the Senate. The practical effect is to nullify the agency of 
; Senate. There may be, occasionally, cases in which the public interest requires an im- 
idiate dismission, without wailing fi)r the assembling of the Senate; but, in all such cases 
i President should be bound to communicate fully the grounds and motives of the dismis- 
n. The power would be thus rendered responsible. Without it, the exercise of the 
iver is utterly repuirnant to free institutions, the basis of which is perfect responsibility, 
d dantrerous to the public liberty, as has been already shown. 

tth. That the control of the Treasury of the United States should be confided and con- 
ed exclusively to Congress ; and all authority of the President over it, by iDeans of dis- 



missing the Secretary of the Treasury, or other persons having the immediate charge, be ri- 
^Tou'L^veteS'much, fellow-citizens, of the divorce of banks and government. After | 
crippl-mg them and impairing their utility, the Executive and its P'^'-'^f "^^'.^^/^VKliroH 
ticalk denounced them. The Executive and the country were warned agam and again ot 
I'e fatal course that has been pursued; but the Executive nevertheless persevered co^ 
mencincr bv praisincr, and ending by decrying the state banks. Under cover of the smoke 
wS hasUen raided, the real "object all'along has been and yet ,s, to objam U.e mone 
nower of the Union. That accomplished and sanctioned by the people-the union ot the 
sword and the purse in the hands of the President eflPectually secured-and farewell to Ame- 
rican libertv. The Sub-Treasury is the scheme for effecting that union ; and 1 am told, 
that of all the days in the year, that which gave birth to our national existence and tree- 
dom,°s the selected day to be disgraced by ushering into existence a measure, ^^nj'^ently 
dansrerous to the liberty, which on that anniversary we commemorate in joyous Ifl'^a's.- 
Thus in the spirit of destruction which animates our rulers, would they convert a day ot 
iladness and cff glory, into a day of sadness and mourning. Fel'«--^'^^'-'/,';^^lXorce 
vorce urgently demanded by the safety and the highest interests of the country-a divorce 
of the President from the Treasury of the United States. i, , r 

And 5th. That the appointment of members of Congress to any office, or any but a tew 
specified offices, during their continuance in office, and for one year thereafter, be prohi- 



bited 



This is a hackneyed theme, but it is not less deservincr serious consideratmn. The con- 
stitution now interd'ic.s the appointment of a member of Congress to «ny,«f^^,^^^J«'^J' ° 
the emoluments of wf.ich had been increased whilst he was m office. In ^ be purer dayso, 
the Republic, that restriction might have been sufficient, but m these n>»'-.«^f;|^"«^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ 
it is necessary, by an amendment of the constitution, to g.ve the pnnc.ple greater extent 

These are L s^ubjects, in relation to the permanent character of the f jrnmen «se^ 
which it seems to me, are worthy of the serious attention of the people, and ol a new ad 
ministration. There are others, of an administrative nature, which require prompt anc 

'Tst'S' currency of the countrv, its stability and uniform value; an^'f^ ^ fi'""!' pLv".' 
indissolublv connected with it. the 'insurance of the faithful performance <?f ^^^ fif^J/"/^^^ 
necessary 'to the government, should be mainiained and secured by exercising all the power 
requisite to those objects with which congress is constitufonally '"^^^J^^' .^/'^ '/^ \, 
great ends to be aimed at-lhe means are of subordinate importance. Whether these end. 
indispensable to the well-bein^ of both the people and the government, are to be attaine 
bv sound and safe State Banks, carefully selected, and properly distributed or bj a n^^ 
Bank of the United States, with such limitations, conditions, or restrictions, as have heen n^ 
dicatcd by experience, should he left to the arbitration of enlightened public "P'?'0"- 

Cando?and truth require me to say, that, in my judgment, whilst banks ex is in thecoun 
try, the services of a Bank of the United States cannot be safely ^^f P^nsed w,th. 1 th.m 
that the power to establish such a bank .s a settled question ; settled by ^Vasbngjon and b 
Madison, bv the people, by forty years' acquiescence, by the judiciary, and by bott^ ot in 
great parties which so long held sway in this country. I know, and I respect ^be contrar 
opinion, which is entertained in this Slate. But, in my deliberate view of ^be mat er th 
power to establish such a bank being Settled, and beinij a necessary power, the on Y q e. 
[ion is as to the expediency of its exercise. And on questions of mere e^P^'''^"fy' P"*!'' 
opinion ought to have a controlling influence. Without banks I benev^ '""'TT.tnnn 
sufficient currency; without a bank of the United States, I fear we cannot have a soun 
currencv. But it is the end, that of a sound and sufficient currency, and a t«''btu exec 
tion of {he fiscal duties of government, that should engagethe dispassionate «nd camiid co 
sideration of the whole community. There is nothing in the name of a Bank "/ th« u "> 
States which has any magical charm, or to which any one need be wedded, it is lo secu 
certain great objects, without which society cannot prosper; and if, contrarv t'yny appr 
hension, these objects can he accomplished by dispensiim with the agency ol a i^an^ ^^ ^ 
United States, and employing that of State Banks, all ought to rejoice and heartily acqii 
esce, and none would more than I should. , . , • 

2d. That the public lands, in conformity with the trusts created expressly, or hv jusi ir 
plication, on their acquisition, be administered in a spirit of liberality towards the newstai 
and territories, and in a spirit of justice towards all the states. 



10 

The land bill, which was rejected by President Jackson, and acts of occasional legislation 
will accomplish both these objects. I regret that the time does not admit of my exposing 
here the nefarious plans and purposes of the Administration as to this vast national resource. 
That, like every other great interest of the country, is administered with the sole view of 
the eliect upon the interests of the party in power. A bill has passed the Senate, and is now 
pending before the house, according to which forty millions of dollars are stricken from tlie 
real value of a certain portion of ilie public lands by a short process; and a citizen of Vir- 
ginia, residing on ihe south-west side of the Ohio, is not allowed to purchase lands as cheap 
by half a dollar per acre, as a citizen living on the north-west side of that river. I have no 
liesitation in exjjressing my conviction, that the whole public domain is gone if Mr, Van Bu- 
ren be re-elected. 

3d. That the policy of protecting and encouraging the productions of American indus- 
try, entering into competition witfi the rival productions of Ibreign industry, be adhered to 
and maintained on the basis of the principles, and in the spirit of the compromise of March, 
1833. 

Protection and national independence are, in my opinion, identical and synonymous. The 
principle of tiie one cannot be surretxlered without a torfeiiure of the other. Who wiih 
just pride and national sensibility, can think of subjecting the products of our industry to all 
the taxatiim and restraints of fireign Powers, without etiort on our part, to counteract their 
prohihilions and burdens by suitable countervailiuir legislation .'' The question cannoi be, 
ought not to be, but of measure and degree. I adopi that of the compromise act, not be- 
cause that act is irreparable, but because it met the sanction of the nation. Stability, with 
moderate and certain protection, is far more important than instability, the necessary con- 
sequence of liigh protection. But the protection of the coinpromise act will be adequate for 
most, if not as to all interests. The twenty per cent, which it stipulates, cash duties, home 
Valuations, and the list of free articles inserted in the act, for the particular advantage of the 
manufacturer, will insure, I trust, sufficient pr()tecti(m. All together, they will amount pro- 
bably to no less than thirty percent. — a greater extent of protection than was secured prior 
10 the act of 1828, which no one stands up to defend. Now, the valuation offoieign goods 
is made, not by the American authority, except in suspected cases, but by foreijjners, and 
abroad. They assess the value, and we the duty; but as the duty depends, in most cases 
upon the value, it is manifest that those who assess the value fix the duty. The home va- 
luation will give our government what it rightfully possesses — the power to ascertain the 
true value of the thintr which it taxes, as well as the amount of that tax. 

4th. That a strict and wise econoiny in the disbursement of the public money, be steadily 
enforced ; and that, to that end, all useless establishments, all unnecessary offices and ])!aces 
foreign and domestic, and all extravagnnce, either in the collection or expenditure of the 
public revenue, be abolislied and repressed. 

I have not time to dwell on detai-ls in the application of this principle. I will say, that a 
pruning knife, long, broad, and sharp, should be applied lo every department of the govern- 
inent. There is abundant scope for an honest and skilful surgery. Tlie annual expenditure 
nay, in reasonable time, be brought down from its present amount of about forty millions to 
lear one third of tiiat sum. 

5tli. The several states have made such great and gratifyinii progress in their respective 
systems of internal improvement, and have been so aided by the distribution under the de- 
wsite act, that in future, the erection of new roads and canals shoidd be left to them with 
aich further aid only from the General Government, as they would derive from the pay- 
nent of the last instalment under that act, fnm) an absolute relinquishment of the right of 
■.ongress to call upon them to refund the previous instalments, and from their equal and just 
(uotas, to be received by a future distribution of the nett proceeds from the sales of the pub- 
c lands. 

And 6th. That the right to slave properly, beinir guaranteed by the constitution, and re- 
ognised as one of the com])romises incorporated in that instrument by our ancestors, should 
>e left where the constitution has placed it, undisturbed and unagitated by congress. 

These, fellow-citizens, are views both of the structure of the Giwernment and of its Ad- 
tinistration, which appear to me worthy of commanding the grave attention of the public 
nd its. new servants. Allhouffh, I repeal, I have neither autfiority nor purpose to commit 
ny body else, I believe most, if not all of them, are entertained by the political friends with 
/honi I have acted. Whether the salutary reforms which they include will be effected or 
onsidered, depends upon the issue of that great struggle which is now going on through-* 



11 



the liberties of the country. Let ul catS the snfr f Ih h '".^^^'T' ^'''^ i^ to preserve 
tues which adorned our nobble an es orl Their^i toTfon the^^^^ '"^ 'T'"' '^' "''- 

activity, their perseverance, their indomitahirr.c^r . '.u '^O'^'^tancy, their untiring 
they fought for liberty or deLth in the rm.r J ,"''''"' ^^^J^' sacrifices, their valor ! ff 
them, let"us never for^t that theVrf^^^ "^'^"^ "^^'^^ ^^'^ ill"«trious of 

encouraged by the fact thafthe contest to the s.l J '" \''l T ''^^^'•^' ^e should be 
hves, their fortunes, and the r sacred honir tjTr ""^ ""^"^ '^7 '°^'"^"'>^ P'^^^ed their 
engaged. But on he other hand, let us cauTioLfv """'■7"^^"=^' ^^an that in which we are 
H,story and experience prove that more'ha ' be J losThvliroUT ^^'^ r''''T'~. 
enemies, than won by skill and courage Our onnnn! f^ ^^'^^confidence and contei^pt of 
organization-active; insidious, po s2eJ of anl^^ ' ^^"^ P«J^erlul in numbers and in 
use of them. They count upnCcis by 2 ,si onZ' """^ ^n "^ ""scrupulous in the 
ism-Democracy, which in violation of aKruthihL.n "^'' Democracy and Federal- 
ralism, which in violation of all ju tL, they a^ply to us^^T^^^^^ themselves, and Fede- 

to sutter yourselves to be diverted, deceived nrVZ au ^'["^.'J^^ t" conjure you not 

be industriously circulated, be ween the ^rese't /im T.f ^^ '^^I'^'-' '"""^"^■^ ^^''^^h will 
opponents. tLv will put ^len^ZltlZ^^^^ 

imposing forms, certified and sworn to bv consnl.uwT' %T """'^'''■' "^ ^^e most 

boast, they will threaten. Re3less of a T' ^.^f T''^ ^^ ^'^^^ they will 

and fearlessly at work. '^^^'^"'ess ot all their arts, let us keep steadily and faithfully, 

brSi ':Z ted^SelsJ^n:!;^ j^S u'Uol^n^^ ^^^'%"^/ ^^ -' '" ^^^ -'- 
his sole exertions depended the issSe oAhe H J f ." 7T ^""^^ "" ^■"'' *"d as if on 

the States of the Union will utii e in the Xrion; ''^'fl^'^V' '^'^' ^' ^'''' ^^^^"ty of 
and the redemption of the c,,untry " ^""'^ ""^ '^^ ^'"'^^t'°" o^^he Constitution, 

Friends and fellow-citizens, I have detainpH w.„ +^^ i » 

and my prolbund acknowledcrmentrL the honorrr tT T^' ^"^V^ ""^ ^"•■^^'^' '^^"'^•''' 
attachment and confidence "0 ward me a i^^d^T ' ^^ and for all your feelings of 

nient : ^'"^ "'^ ' '"'^ ''"^"^ "i^' '" conclusion, to propose a senti- 

arS!Td'er?hri?a7 of Patrick Hety "inlfp'nT"? T'"'"^ "^,?^ Revolution, to raise i.. 
prove false or recreant to thTholy Se. "''"''" ''^''"''^ ' '' ^^'" ^e the last to 



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